The Martyr and the Moon
by Miss Faber
Summary: Selflessness. Sacrifice. Respect. Equality. These are the markers of Yuten. A series of Yuten Yue & Lu Ten drabbles and one-shots. Prompts and requests will be taken on my tumblr, or through private messaging. Rating will be changed if smut is posted. Enjoy!
1. Amaya

Author's Note: Welcome to _The Martyr and the Moon_, the place where I will post Yuten drabbles to my heart's content. I take prompt requests through private messaging and through my tumblr, zutarasbedsheets.

I really _loved_ writing this first drabble. I hope you like it too!

* * *

Yue's eyes blink open slowly, stirred awake by the sudden absence of warmth beside her. Despite the sleep induced haze and the darkness, she can see his sillouette, standing by the window; shafts of moonlight paint his skin.

"Leaving already?"

Lu Ten turns at the sound of her voice; his face is thrown into shadow, and she can't discern his expression. "I have to."

"So you were going to sneak away, in the dead of night, without even a goodbye?"

She watches him take a step closer. "It's easier that way."

"I deserve a goodbye."

He nods. "I know you do."

He heaves a sigh; she watches his hand come up to scratch at the back of his head, and the sheepish gesture is so endearing that Yue extends her arms in a silent plea.

He walks into them, dropping beside her on the bed, his bare skin nestling against hers. Yue's hands gravitate towards his shoulders, while his come to rest against the small of her back; he moves forward, so that their foreheads touch.

"You know I don't want to," he whispers.

"But you have to," she supplies, somewhat sadly.

His shoulders roll in a small, apologetic shrug. "I have a duty."

It's Yue's turn to sigh. "I can understand that."

"I know." One of his hands comes up to her face, his knuckles brushing against the soft skin of her cheek. "You're too good for me."

"I'm not," she says quickly. "I just... I can understand sacrifice. And duty."

He chuckles softly. "Like I said... you're too good for me."

But Yue is not amused. She turns her eyes up to him, and they are as somber as ever. "I deserve a goodbye," she says again.

"I'm sorry," he says, his voice ringing with sincerity. "I won't do it again."

She hits his shoulder. "You mean you won't get a _chance_ to do it again, you dunce." Overcome by some emotion she can't explain, she buries her face in his chest. "You're not leaving me, not again."

His hands bury themselves in her hair, pulling her even closer. "I won't... Agni, I won't, I promise."

For a few moments, the only sound in the room is their breathing. Eventually, Yue pulls away from him; and when she lifts her face up to his, her expression is stern.

"Don't you go trying to be a hero or anything," she warns.

"I won't," he quickly assures her.

"Don't give me that." Her eyes narrow. "I know you, Lu Ten, and sometimes you just can't resist being the hero. You have to promise me you won't do that anymore, not this time."

"I won't-"

"Because I need you to come home to me," she continues. "And..."

She places a hand on her stomach, then turns her bright eyes up to Lu Ten. Inexplicably, a smile breaks out on her face. "Our child needs you to come home."

For a moment, there is only silence; then, a shaky laugh escapes him. "What?"

Yue's grin only widens. "You're going to be a father."

Lu Ten stares at her with wide, disbelieving eyes, as though waiting for her to take it back, to claim it's a joke; and when she doesn't, he laughs again, even through the tears that fill his eyes.

Yue answers with a laugh of her own, but then Lu Ten is kissing her; kissing her and kissing her, again and again and again, his lips meshing with hers in a way that is somehow both soft and hungry, somehow betraying _gratitude_.

"Agni, I love you," he whispers huskily, the words swallowed by her mouth, before his lips move lower. He carves a trail of kisses down her chin, her neck, the valley between her breasts, before he reaches her stomach; and there, he lingers.

Yue is barely aware of the tears that slip down her face; she is overwhelmed by the sight of Lu Ten kissing her stomach repeatedly.

After a few moments, she slides her hands into his hair; he looks up at her, and she crooks her fingers, motioning for him to come to her.

They lay together, Yue's head resting on Lu Ten's chest, one of his hands resting on her back and the other buried in her hair.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"For what?" His hand moves, beginning to stroke her hair.

"For reacting so wonderfully," she says, letting out a nervous chuckle. "I was worried."

"That's silly," he says quietly.

"I know." Yue's heart swells with emotion. "I love you."

He leans down, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I love you too."

"But you have to leave." The words escape her before she can contemplate them, and then it's too late to take them back.

To her surprise, Lu Ten doesn't sigh, or shake his head, or give her a final kiss; there is no gesture of resignation. When she lifts her head to look up at him, he's smiling.

"You know?" he says. "I think I can stay another night."


	2. Desperation

_A/N: _No prompt for this angsty drabble.

* * *

Desperation; all consuming, whole. It was riddled in his voice, in her irises, in his grip, in the vein that throbbed in his neck.

His voice was hoarse when he spoke; hoarse from crying or pleading or some combination of the two. "You... you _can't_ leave."

Her eyes, large pools of the truest blue, are inexplicably sad. "I have to."

"But you've already done enough," he protests, wildly racking his brains for even the most far-fetched excuse, anything to keep her there, with him. "You've done _more_ than enough- more than anyone else would have done, you've sacrificed-"

"Shhhh."

He shakes his head, mutely, unwilling to yield to acceptance, unwilling to let himself understand.

Her hand comes up to cradle one side of his face- her skin is papery soft. Already, he realizes, she has a trace of something ethereal.

Then again, she always has.

"I'll miss you." His voice is barely more than a whisper.

"Oh, darling, I'll miss you too." Her voice cracks at the end of her proclamation; a crack in the perpetually brave face she kept up. "I'll miss you."

He leans in to her touch, eyes closing, his face turning to hers as hers did the same; then, simultaneously, they paused, when all that separated them was a breath.

"Look for me in the sky," she whispers; and when he opens his eyes, she is gone.


	3. Regal

**Prompt: Regal**

* * *

Sometimes, it didn't matter that they knew the night would end, because the way it filled them with temporary ecstacy was enough to numb the realization.

Tonight was such a night. Yue sat in the rocking chair that looked onto the window. The sky was black velvet, and the breeze was perfect, and her baby crooned softly in her arms.

"I love that sound."

Yue quirked a brow; while Lu Ten was as unafraid to talk sweetly as he was to be witty, she rarely heard such heartfelt emotion in his voice. But that was the benefit of the night, she thought. Her hand smoothed the soft, downy hair atop their child's head. "Amaya, you mean?"

"Yeah." He was sitting on the floor in front of her, legs crossed, his head resting atop her knee. She felt his throat move as he spoke. "It's so innocent. So natural."

"It is." Yue's hand moved the short distance from her daughter's head to her husbands. She ran her fingers through his hair, still slightly damp from his bath.

"Do you ever think that if we weren't who we were, things would be different?"

Yue understood the implications. It was a matter they'd exhausted. A prince, a soldier, a princess, a spirit. But she didn't want to disturb the stillness she'd found in this night, with him. "Things wouldn't be that different."

"Yes they would," Lu Ten said. "We could be like this, together, always."

Her fingers moved lower, smoothed the creases in his brow. "We are, aren't we?"

They fell silent. Eventually, Lu Ten spoke up. "You're right."

"How so?"

"I think, that even if we weren't who we are now, I would still suspect it." Lu Ten paused. "I'd always know you were different."

"You too. I'd know that you were a prince…" Yue swallowed the lump in her throat. "You always look regal when you're bending."

He kissed her, then, knowing that she'd always taste the same, no matter what skin she wore. Their baby spooned between them, Yue leaned forward and returned the kiss, and this soft expression did not disturb the nocturnal stillness.


	4. Expecting

**Prompt: Expecting**

_A/N: _Happy Valentine's Day! Some Yuten for you.

* * *

She served him tea on a platter, and that should have been the first sign that something was wrong.

Lu Ten wondered if _it_- the error, the sign- was a figment of his imagination. He'd never been reduced to such a thought process- things to do with the abstract, unnatural, or foreboding were better left to his moody cousin- but he figured he'd give it a try. Lu Ten blinked. The tray remained solid. He glanced at Yue; she'd taken the seat opposite him, sinking into the low cushion, her dark hands cupping a steaming cup.

Lu Ten stared at the tea tray, almost challenging it, and wondered if the obscene thing would ever be removed.

Yue did not pick up on his signals, even when his eyes bore into her. Her eyes, downcast and preoccupied, were trained on something beyond her cup of tea. Lu Ten sighed. Then he sighed again, loudly and dramatically. But Yue's rigid back did not bend, her eyes did not shift, and Lu Ten was, once again, at a loss.

"Yue?"

His voice seemed to reach her in some faraway place, for it was a moment before she looked up- and even then, it was only a cursory glance.

"Yes?" said she, in a voice that was not at all hers.

"You've given me tea," he said, perplexed.

"Yes," Yue said again, and deeming the matter concluded, returned to her study of the cup in her hands.

For a moment, Lu Ten's mouth hung open. Then: "Yue, are you alright?"

For the third time, and after a pause: "Yes."

Lu Ten decided then to indulge. Just this once. Perhaps his reaction, his imminent reaction, would shock Yue from her near-comatose state. Swallowing on a suddenly dry throat, Lu Ten reached forward and cupped the tea. He took a breath, then took a swallow.

His memory did not fail him. As soon as the horrid taste touched his tongue, his very soul seemed to cringe, and he immediately spit it all up, ridding himself of the offending liquid.

Yue blinked. "What are you doing?"

Despite the front of his tunic being damp and stinging slightly from the heat of the tea, Lu Ten grinned. "Well, good morning."

Her eyes- finally bright, finally responding- narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Lu Ten held up the cup, wiping of his chin with the back of his free hand. "You gave me tea."

Yue blanched. "_What?_"

Lu Ten shrugged. "You tell me."

"That's impossible, I know you hate tea."

Lu Ten shook the cup. "You did. Now, tell me what's happened."

Yue seemed to falter; her lids swept down to cover her eyes, and roses filled her cheeks as she blushed. "I didn't… I mean.. oh, spirits. I don't know how to tell you this."

Lu Ten threw aside the cup and leaned forward. "Tell me."

She heaved a sigh. "Alright. Well. Do you think certain things, like a liking for tea, are passed from father to son?"

Lu Ten scoffed. "Obviously not. Have you met my father?"

Yue grinned, casting her eyes upward for a moment, as though his answer didn't matter, nothing but her thoughts at that very moment did. She too leaned forward, and then took his hands. "Well." She spoke slowly, her eyes boring into his, smiling impossibly. "That's a shame. Because you're such a handsome man."

It took Lu Ten a moment to understand. When he did, his face seemed to struggle in forming a fitting reaction. "No," he breathed.

"_Yes_," said she. Her brow creased, and she moved back. "And that's not the best way to react. I didn't expect you to laugh, or to be explicitly happy, but you won't be serving for the next few months and we're in a lull, and honestly this is the best timing-"

Lu Ten broke off her words with a kiss, his eyes closing as he absorbed the news. _A child_- a combination of the sun and the moon. The child was quite lucky, he decided; quite lucky.


End file.
